Captain Franklin Taiwo Akinpelumi is the Lagos State coordinator of Nigerian Indigenous Ship owners Association (NISA). In this interview with Shipping Position Daily correspondent, he talked about the association and what the future holds for Nigerian ship owners. The mariner also told Roland Ekama that government needs to focus on the shipping sector for economy growth and the need to appoint a technocrat for maritime agencies like NIMASA.
“What is happening in NISA is just members’ perception about some sections of the constitution”
What is the present situation of things at NISA, as regards the disagreement by members of the association?
Of course, you know that NISA is the Nigerian Ship owners Association and we remain one and united family and for any big association like ours, there will also be dissenting voices which is not uncommon is our society today. In fact when you look at what is happening in other associations as well you find out that ours is nothing when compared to what we are experiencing in our society today. Well the fact remains that one thing is constant which is the interest of Nigerian ship owners; irrespective of how you view it, irrespective of what your take is, the fact remains that we are still united by a common course and the common course is how the business can better the condition of indigenous operators and ship owners and I think that is what binds us together and that has been what actually brought us together and we remain a united family. Yes we have disagreement which is normal in any climes.
What are your expectations for the year 2016?
You can see that nothing is happening and in fact I don’t need to tell you. Business activities is on standstill, we have leverage on the fact that the government in place is of change, although they are trying to streamline the situation of things in the country and the maritime sector inclusive, but first thing first- our expectation is whoever that will be appointed head of NIMASA must be a professional and a technocrat, someone that will understand the industry , someone that will appreciate the industry and take it to the next level. Like I always say, the primary objective of the formation of NIMASA is development of both local and international shipping, so, when you look at the 2016 budget prepared by the government, you will find out that they want to borrow approximately N2trillion to bridge the shortfall but as someone with good intentions, that also knows his onions, I don’t think we need to borrow such an amount because our shipping sector can generate more than that, if well harnessed. For instance the STS operations going on Lome and Cotonou waters generate massive revenue and do you know how much the daughter and the mother vessel will pay to the authorities of both countries, especially the navy? It is not a small amount and we are in a designated anchorage position where STS business thrives here, but the unfortunate thing is the fact that this cargo that is stocked midway offshore Lome is actually meant for Nigerians, because the final destination of those cargo is Nigeria. Unfortunately we are being short-changed, they will stop offshore Lome, the revenue that was supposed to accrue into Nigerian government is actually diverted to those countries and these are the things that are not making us to move forward in our shipping business and it is not difficult to actually correct. It’s a matter of getting someone that understands the situation with good intentions that also wants our indigenous shipping to develop. There should just be a policy statement that henceforth any bill of lading generated offshore Lome cannot be allowed to Nigerian ports. First thing first; if we have leaders with good intentions I think all the efforts that we have put in all these years to ensure proper implementation of the Cabotage law should have enabled us to go places by now. Our shipping sector is supposed to be evolving now, but unfortunately, people who are benefiting from those acts are sabotaging our efforts and people in the system are frustrating our efforts by ensuring that the Cabotage Act does not work. Again, it is for us to set an agenda for the president. In the past, the leadership of this country have not paid enough attention to this sector. When we talk about maritime, we talk about oil and gas, we talk about shipping etc. The shipping aspect of it was supposed to be well harnessed but it is not. There are nations without hydro carbon resources, they depend solely on shipping and they were able to break even and I am talking about the likes of Singapore, Malaysia and others. If those people can harness the potentials in their shipping sector why not Nigeria. We have the market and also the resources.
Is it correct to say that the acting DG of NIMASA is not living up to expectations?
Let’s call a spade a spade. I have not seen any difference since he became the acting DG. It is not a matter of being a DG rather the big question is what has been his achievement since he assume the post. Again the big question is what is the background of the acting DG? It is like me who happens to be a mariner, now saying I will know accounting more than an accountant which we all know is not possible. In the area of management I can apply my skills but a technocrat knows how to block the loopholes, knows how to make policy statement for the benefit of indigenous shipping. We need people that understand the nitty gritty and it is not a matter of being in an establishment for so long that makes you to be abreast of the industry, rather is for you to have a prerequisite knowledge and what can be put in to move the sector forward, therefore these are the kind of people we need in the sector. I will say Jauro is one of the old wine in a new bottle; so the taste has not changed, it is still the same taste all the same and I think that is the best way to respond to that question. The fact remains that we shouldn’t expect anything spectacular until a professional and seasoned technocrat is actually appointed to head NIMASA.
As the Lagos Coordinator of NISA, what is your view about the MT Tank and MT Elixir accident that occurred last year and do you think NIMASA actually handled the case properly as a maritime safety agency?
As the coordinator, I will actually try to comment on what I was properly briefed about the incident. Unfortunately, I gathered that the owner of MT Tank has taken NIMASA to court and I would not like to comment on that for the mere fact that there is a court injunction to that effect. But the only thing I can say is that our regulatory agency that doubles as a flag administration needs to sit up and do more, because in a situation whereby accident happens within our territorial waters and no proper investigations was conducted, no proper documentation and no information was disseminated is very unfortunate, therefore in that regard there is still more to be done by NIMASA.
What is the present position of the aggrieved members of NISA?
Let me put it this way, there cannot be permanent fight in the association and I want to correct this notion. The relationship between us as members and ship owners is very cordial indeed because we maintain cordial relationship and the difference is that we might disagree in certain aspects or we might have our own position on the interpretations of the association’s constitution just like what happen in the larger society where individuals will interpret the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria differently and the way you perceive it might be different from the way the other person does, but there will be an arbiter which is the court of law and the court of law will look at it passionately and whatever decision that is taken is binding. So, what is happening in NISA is just members’ perception about some sections of the constitution which is bound to happen and I believe invariable that it is the general body that will suffer because it is indigenous shipping that is not developing and there is common saying that united we stand divided we fall ; if we are united then it is actually good for 10 people to do the task of two persons because there will be synergy but if two people will do it alone and what two people are doing is for the benefit of the 10 people, then it doesn’t make any sense therefore it is better for all of us to come together and move the association forward. And looking at it from a distance, I will say it is not a major issue. It is a known fact that we have a president who was elected; which is Dada Labinjo and it is very pertinent now and necessary to rally round him because it’s a known fact that if there is anyone that is passionate about the progress of that association, it is the president and we the members are passionate as well but if we have disagreement then we should not allow such to generate to the level whereby we can be short – changed in the scheme of things.
What effect has NISA made in ensuring that litherage operations are conceded to indigenous operators?
We wrote petitions to the then-minister of transport last year and he actually listened passionately to our appeal, then he gave a ministerial directive to NIMASA that henceforth litherage operations must be done by indigenous operators and we have been interfacing with NIMASA on that, we have written series of position papers on that and on the strength of the MOU we had with NIMASA on the enforcement of the Cabotage law. During the time of Mr. Temisan Omatseye when Chief Isaac Jolapomo was the NISA president we had an MOU which states that a special marshal be established to control our waters which we went on the mission by recruiting our boys to take charge of our waters, pointing out all foreign vessels without waivers to NIMASA for them to actually carry out their duties on how to detain such vessels and for those vessels to also pay fines. But at the end nothing came out of it. We also went as far as writing to the then minister of transport and even the permanent secretary under this new administration by putting our position papers, with various write up on how to develop our indigenous shipping and he was convinced because we actually advised that with a marine notice, things will change for good and he urged us to come up with a draft which we did to fine tune the whole process only for him to say he will need the President’s consent and up till now we have not heard anything. It is not lost yet because we know that we are going to laugh last at the end.
Discussion about this post